


Jack x Ianto: "You could've died!"

by MYwritingsXIII



Series: Torchwood: Ianto and Jack [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: A little angst, Happy Ending, Ianto wants to be more than just a tea-boy, M/M, janto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23288722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYwritingsXIII/pseuds/MYwritingsXIII
Summary: Ianto is tired of being left out of the real missions and wants to go with the team on a mission to kill weird alien insects. Jack doesn't want Ianto to come, the thought of him getting hurt scares him too much. But Ianto persists and comes along. Everything seems to be under control until it's not and one of them gets badly hurt.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: Torchwood: Ianto and Jack [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676587
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	Jack x Ianto: "You could've died!"

The Torchwood team was once again threatened by an alien invasion, this time it were alien creatures almost human size, looking like huge insects. They were poisonous and loved human meat. 

The whole team was in the SUV on their way to an old industrial unit just outside the city. They were armed with guns and an elixir Owen had made which would tranquilize them. Jack looked in his rearview mirror and caught Ianto’s gaze. They had argued only minutes ago whether he would join the rest of the team or not. Jack had insisted for him to stay behind at the Hub, but Ianto argued he wouldn’t be able to help them.

_“You should stay here, Ianto, we need someone on the look-out.” Jack said briskly. He absolutely didn’t want Ianto to come. He remembered the last time they went on a dangerous mission. Jack’s focus was on Ianto the entire mission., He wasn’t able to concentrate on the danger laying ahead of them. All he wanted to do was protect the younger boy. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing him._

_“But here I won’t be able to help you, I need to be there on the field with you guys.” Ianto sounded desperate. He felt the need to prove himself, prove that he was just as brave as the others. That he could handle difficult and life threatening situations. That he wasn’t just some ordinary tea-boy._

_“What if we all die? Then there’s no one out there-“_

_“Wow, that’s optimistic. I thought you said earlier that you could handle the situation” Ianto said, he wasn’t giving up that easily. He had enough of Jack treating him as some wounded puppy. He thought he had showed he was more._

_“Ianto, you don’t understand-“_

_“No actually I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand, I want to **help** Jack. I want to help you out there, I’m tired of sitting here feeling a waste of space.” _

_“You’re not a waste of space” Jack said seriously. He wished he could tell Ianto why he was so afraid to let him come along. Wish he could tell him that his safety mattered more to him than anything else._

_The tension in the room was building up more and more every second. Jack wanted to reach out and touch Ianto, he wanted to prove to the younger boy how much he felt for him. He urged to kiss those beautiful lips, touch his pretty face, whisper words of comfort. But before he could reach out, Gwen came in: “Hey, I don’t want to interrupt whatever this is, but we were kind of wondering where you were. The situation isn’t really getting easier the longer we wait.”_

_“I’m coming” Jack said, looking at Ianto with a face that said: ‘This discussion is over.’._

_“Is Ianto not joining us?” Gwen asked, oblivious of the conversation the two men were having before she walked in. “I think it would be useful to have a man more on the field, don’t you?”_

_Silence. Jack looked from Gwen to Ianto and back to Gwen. The expression on his face cold as ice._

_“Let me come along, please” Ianto begged one last time. His voice quiet and vulnerable Jack sighed, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything happened to him. “Jack, I need this.” Ianto added._

_“Fine come along” Jack finally said, defeated. He knew he was going to regret it. But he couldn’t tell Ianto that him coming along meant that all Jack’s attention was divided between trying to defeat the alien creatures and making sure nothing harmed Ianto._

“Jack are you alright?” Gwen asked. Jack nodded stiffly. From now on the only thing he would be concentrating on were those terrible creatures, and of course making sure nothing happened to one of his team members. Especially Ianto.

Once they were there, he ordered Tosh and Owen to go explore the left side of the building while he, Gwen and Ianto took the right. He did try to persuade Ianto to stay in the SUV, but of course he didn’t want to. Jack saw no point further arguing again.

While they entered the building, he made sure Ianto was always one step behind him, close enough that Jack could reach him and pull him away if necessary. He knew it would be more difficult to keep him in that position when they were going to attack.

There was no sound other than their breathing and their footsteps, which made Jack nervous. It was the quiet before the storm.

Normally he would love the adrenaline that came with it, but today what he felt was mostly fear. He had a bad feeling about all of this and had to stop himself from turning around and ordering his team to leave immediately.

The windows of the site were almost all broken, moonlight lit the – at first sight – empty place. But once their eyes were used to the darkness they could see at the far end of the space the movement of what seemed like a hundred horrible insects the seize of a cow.

They knew they were blind and were attracted to their victims by sound and scent. Jack looked at Gwen and Ianto gesturing what to do next. He would make a loud sound, attracting the attention of the aliens while the other two attacked from the sides. It wasn’t a full proof plan but he had no other at the moment and he knew the longer they waited, the sooner the creatures would smell or hear them.

“HEY BIG BOYS WANT A BITE!!” Jack yelled, his voice echoed creepily. Immediately thereafter another sound came from the other side of the room: hundreds of screeches. It took merely a couple of seconds till they had crossed the room and started attacking, spitting out balls of poison.

Jack, Ianto and Gwen didn’t waste any time and started shooting from the moment they heard the first screeches. For a second, it seemed like they had everything under control but then the second horde of thirty insects came and they were even more vicious than the one before.

Jack let out a cry of pain, one of the poisonous balls had hit him right in the face. The cry made Ianto forget what he was doing and made him cross the room to Jack. But the second he let his guard down he was hit too, and one of the creatures sprang on him ready to sink his teeth into his neck. Luckily at that moment Owen and Tosh came in and with one splash of tranquilizer hit the beast on Ianto, which rolled of him.

Ianto opened his mouth to say thanks but was hit by another insect from behind. The hit made him fall to the ground. For a moment everything was dark, but then he felt the warm touch which couldn’t be from any of the insects. He opened his eyes and saw Jack only inches away from his face. Jack sighed in relieve once he opened his eyes, turned around and kicked two insects trying to get to them. 

“Are you alright?” Jack’s voice was filled with worry. But Ianto smiled faintly and replied: “Yeah, had worse.” Jack grinned back. Though the danger hadn’t passed yet, there were still a couple of monsters left.

“Stay still” Jack whispered, a finger on Ianto’s lips. Jack was on top of Ianto, this situation seemed a lot like on months ago. Expect from maybe the fact that they were handling slightly more dangerous creatures right now.

Ianto’s heart was beating loud and very fast. His head was thumbing very painfully. But he couldn’t help to think that he kind of asked for it.

Jack got off him and finished off a couple more creatures. Ianto found it very difficult to keep his focus on him, everything was starting to become a blur.

“I think that was the last one” Jack said with a victorious smile. It hadn’t been quite as bad as he imagined it. Okay, his head was still stinging from the poison but apart from that he thought they came out fine. Tosh had a cut on her cheek and she had a few scratches on her arms but apart from that she looked good. As did Gwen and Owen. Both had scratches but nothing too serious.

“Everyone okay?” He asked the others, they were all trying to collect their breaths. Well, all apart from one person. One person who was still lying on the ground, eyes closed. Jack noticed at the same time as the others. Owen immediately went over to check on him.

“Is he alright?” Gwen asked worried. Jack was paralyzed. He had been too occupied by the aliens that he hadn’t noticed how injured Ianto was.

“He’s still breathing but it’s faintly.” Owen said, hands on Ianto’s now lifeless body. “Jack, can you give me a hand turning him around, I’ve got a feeling one of them hit him on his back.”

He stepped closer and carefully the two of them turned Ianto, so Owen could inspect Ianto’s back. They took of his jacked, which was a little wet; The four team members grasped for air when they saw the enormous blood stain on the white shirt. Jack felt like fainting. He knew this wasn’t a good sign.

“Tosh can you get my kid from the SUV,” Owen said keeping his voice steady. Tosh didn’t waste a moment and ran to get it.

Jack had faith in Owen. He was a doctor, this was nothing new to him. Jack watched as Owen ripped the shirt of Ianto and inspected the wound. It was as big as he feared it would be and it hadn’t stopped bleeding yet. Which explained why Ianto fainted. He had lost quite some blood.

Tosh came back with the kit and opened it. Owen gave her instructions and together they cleaned the wound. While this happened, Gwen noticed Jack’s odd behavior. He was sitting on his knees, an unreadable expression on his face. His way of dealing with fear was closing off, Gwen had noticed that many times before, yet it was different this time. Before he took on this expression, his face had been filled with worry. Not just worry, it was more than that it was fear. The kind of expression you would expect from someone who saw a loved one in danger. And yes the team did love each other in a way, but it had been more personal than that. It had been like the fear you feel for your partner.

And earlier before the mission, when she’d interrupted their conversation she also felt like there were many unspoken words in the room. Like she’d walked in on a secret. Was there something between the two of them the others, including her, didn’t know about?

“That’s all we can do right here right now I fear” Owen said, having just covered up the wound. “Will he be okay?” Jack asked, his voice breaking mid-sentence. “I gave him an antidote to stop the poison from spreading, hopefully it’ll be enough. We’ll have to wait and see, but Ianto’s strong and healthy. That’s in his favor.”

Owen couldn’t manage himself to make a cynical comment, not when his friend was nearly dying. 

“Thanks Owen.” Jack said, his voice still not sounding as it usually did. He took Ianto in his arms and carried him to the SUV, he didn’t wait for the others and went ahead. Without asking questions they followed. All still chocked at the turn of events.

Jack carefully seated Ianto in the middle back seat, he briefly touched his face, praying that he would wake up soon. Gwen was the only one who noticed the small yet heartfelt gesture and when Jack turned around and she took his keys. “I think it’s better I drive.” She said, she knew Jack needed to be with Ianto in the backseat. Jack was too tired to argue and sat down next to Ianto, who was still motionless, his head hanging down. Owen sat on the other side, his hand holding Ianto’s wrist constantly checking his pulse the whole way to the Hub.

Jack kept looking at Ianto, he wanted to touch him so badly but he didn’t. For some reason it felt more dramatic if he did so, like admitting he was dying. Which he was not. No Ianto would come out of this fine. By morning he would be his same old self, making coffee and throwing around witty comments. He smiled thinking about it.

Once they were at the Hub, they took Ianto to Owen’s table. While Owen resumed treating the wound, with Gwen and Tosh watching from a distance, Jack was up in his office pacing. Now and then Gwen shot worried looks in his direction.

“That’s all I can do, I suppose he’s going to wake up in a bit. But we should probably give him some space.” Owen said after what seemed to Jack as hours. He was down in no time. “Maybe we should put him in my bed” he suggested, Owen, Gwen and Tosh looked at him questioningly. “It’s more comfortable than this table.” He simply added. Owen and Tosh nodded, but Gwen didn’t seem to be convinced that was the only reason. Owen and Jack carried him to Jack’s bed. “Maybe we should, uh, cover him up more…” Owen said, Ianto wasn’t wearing anything but pants at the moment.

“I’ve got a t-shirt, sure it’ll fit” Jack grabbed it out of his closet and together they helped Ianto in it. It was weird that even from all this movement he didn’t wake up.

“Sure he doesn’t need more monitoring?” Jack asked worried by the stillness of Ianto. “He’s fine, I gave him some painkilling medication which causes him to stay asleep, but these will wear off soon.”

“Okay… And thanks Owen.” Owen shrugged and mumbled that he was just doing his job. He left Jack and Ianto alone. Jack first sat down on a chair next to the bed, but it felt very distant and a little hospital like so instead he settled next to Ianto in the bed. Laying on his side, he traced circles on the other boy’s arm. He was relieved to finally be able to touch him without piercing eyes on him.

Ianto’s breathing was deep and slow, hearing it made Jack relax. As long as he heard that sound he knew things would turn out okay. He’d been so scared these past couple of hours. It seemed to have drained all the energy from him, yet he didn’t dare close his eyes. First he needed to be sure Ianto would wake up. He needed to hear his voice, needed to be 100% sure.

He’d lost so many people before, yet the thought of losing Ianto was different. It had been so long since someone mattered this much to him. He’d always closed himself off, built walls, yet this boy had been able to take them down in no time. He’d settled himself in the captain’s heart.

Suddenly, he felt movement. He looked up at Ianto’s face and saw his eyes fluttering. He opened them, Jack smiled and let out a breath he seemed to be holding up for a couple of hours. “Hey” he said, his voice overflowing from all the emotion he felt.

“Hey” Ianto said back hoarsely. It was quite sexy, Jack thought, yet he shut that thought immediately.

“How are you feeling?” Jack’s hands were resting on Ianto’s face which was turned his direction. Ianto closed his eyes, leaning into the touch, then said: “’m okay, had worse”

Jack frowned: “That’s what you said before and then you fainted remember? So, now the truth please.”

“My back hurts and my head isn’t doing that much better, but it helps waking up with you beside my bed.” He flushed red after saying this. Jack smiled, he was so relieved Ianto was okay. “Glad to be of any help” he answered, he moved one hand away from Ianto’s head and grabbed his hand instead.

“I hope you listen to me next time you want to join us on a mission” he said after staring at their intertwined hands for a bit.

“Why?’ Ianto asked, Jack looked up and said: “Because you could’ve died! You could’ve left me. I don’t think I was clear enough earlier.” Jack said, inhaling before blurting it all out: “Ianto, the reason why I didn’t want you to come wasn’t that I didn’t think you’d be _able_ to, the reason was that I don’t want to lose you. I couldn’t bear the thought of not having you around. I, I _need_ you Ianto Jones!”

Ianto looked at him with big eyes, surprised of all this tenderness. He wasn’t used to Jack being so vulnerable. “I need you, too.” He said back. Jack leaned in a placed a sweet, tender kiss on his lips. It was very different from all the kisses they had shared before which were usually very passionate and hot. This was a kiss who told more than any words ever could.

When they broke apart, Jack kept his face only inches away from Ianto and whispered: “So you’ll listen from now on?”

“I will, but only if you still let me join you on missions” Ianto saw that Jack open his mouth but continued: “Look Jack, I’m tired of staying here while you guys fix the issue. I want to be a real part of the team and that means that I want to be a part of the dangerous, too. The thing I do want to promise you is that I’ll be careful, I’ll take no risks and I’ll always listen to you on missions. Is that okay?”

Jack considered all his partner had just said and nodded. “I guess I’ll have to learn to deal with it.”

Ianto smiled, finally he felt like he and Jack were on the same page.

“Just as I have to learn to deal with the fact that _you_ are not acting careful at all” Ianto said accusingly. Jack laughed and shrugged: “I guess that’s the aftermath of not being able to die.”

Ianto smiled kind of sadly. But he reminded himself that was an issue for another time. He had to enjoy this moment, Jack had just admitted in needing him. He didn’t want to spoil this moment.

He squeezed Jack’s hand as if to see if it was real, the other reacted by stroking it softly with his thumb. “Go back to sleep” Jack whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Ianto closed his eyes and drifted away quickly. And when he opened his eyes, many hours later he was happy to see Jack hadn’t moved an inch. Their hands were still intertwined and Jack’s other hand was still cupping his face. He smiled feeling butterflies and thought he should probably sleep a little more.

Gwen entered the room to see whether Ianto was okay, she wasn’t expecting the scene of both Jack and Ianto sleeping peacefully. One hand intertwined, Ianto’s other hand on Jack’s waist and Jack’s left hand on Ianto’s face. It felt really intimate. She left the room without waking the pair up nor did she tell the others what she just saw. She was happy for both Jack and Ianto. When she thought about it, they were perfect together. Both had been through quite a lot and both needed some comfort. It wasn’t that surprising they found it in the other.


End file.
